The Big Picture

Lee Daniels’ first foray into the horror genre plays with social stereotypes.
The film borrows story beats seen everywhere from
The Exorcist
to
The Conjuring
.
The third act becomes a grab-bag of religious horror imagery that binds well enough, but can feel thrown together.

Lee Daniels’ tradition of telling vulnerable Black stories continues with his first directorial horror project, The Deliverance. Writers David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum channel exorcism titles from David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer to James Wan’s The Conjuring, maybe too literally. Pittsburgh’s semi-suburban outskirts establish surroundings like Cabrini–Greens in Bernard Rose’s Candyman, although all these comparisons pack more terrifying genre ferocity. Daniels lays household drama thick as possession hauntings leak into frame without urgency, which works to establish stakes yet relies heavily on third-act payoffs. That might not favor a sensational horror debut, but enough works as a haunting fight for survival against monsters and prejudice, proving Daniels’ versatility behind the camera.

The Deliverance (2024) A woman returns to her childhood home to confront dark secrets from her past. As supernatural forces emerge and family tensions rise, she must uncover the truth behind her haunting visions and protect her loved ones from an ancient evil threatening their lives.Release Date August 30, 2024

What Is ‘The Deliverance’ About?

The Deliverance is loosely based on Latoya Ammons’ reported paranormal encounters in Gary, Indiana. Latoya, her mother, and three children moved into the infamous “Demon House” — which celebrity ghost hunter Zak Bagans purchased for his 2014 movie Demon House — and that’s where Daniels starts. Ebony (Andra Day), her cancer-stricken white mother Alberta (Glenn Close), and three children move into a Pittsburgh home with immediate freak occurrences. Pesky flies follow a stench in the basement (like Latoya recounts); Ebony’s youngest, Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins), starts talking to an imaginary friend — the vibes, as we say, are off from the start. But will Ebony’s social worker, Cynthia Henry (Mo’Nique), believe a solo mother — herself abused by Alberta — when sons and daughters say they “woke up” with unknown bruises?

Much of the film’s first half is a character study focusing on Ebony. Day plays a poverty-stricken matriarch on the brink, captured by the camera’s scrutinizing perspective. Ebony’s taste for alcohol causes her to be erratic, and we see her physically hit eldest son Nate (Caleb McLaughlin) when he verbally lashes out, but Daniels also shows Ebony who’s paying healthcare bills, or pulling double-parent duties. The Deliverance questions whether broken souls stay broken, or if hereditary curses can be overcome — supernaturally and through shared humanity. It’s a defensive story about Ebony fighting for her children and those who want to steal them away, whether that be the State’s ruling, nurses with judging eyes, or Satan himself.

Daniels employs a throughline in The Deliverance that touches on similar ideas expressed in films like Get Out, The Blackening, and Bad Hair. Ebony’s fears are universal, yet Day’s thorny performance comes with strikes against her skin color. An unrecognizable Close portrays Ebony’s white mother who’s found God and flirtatiously seduces her chemotherapy nurse (Omar Epps), often demonstrating the power her pigmentation holds as she waves a baseball bat or avoids punishment for her actions. Daniels chooses an imperfect protagonist and asks if the trials she faces are enough to forgive her slip-ups, and that question breeds intrigue as the film progresses. Day’s expressions are grimaces, temperamental and aggressive, yet her dedication is unmatched when it comes to Ebony protecting her loved ones — viewed as a strike to onlookers. She’s a dented anchor for a film filled with satanic mischief and vile trickery, influenced by concerned parties studying her every move.

‘The Deliverance’ Plays Around With Familiar Horror Elements

When horror imagery thickens, and shadowy figures make themselves known, The Deliverance plays predictable hits. Ebony falls for the demon’s traps more than once, implicating herself to Alberta or others who find her words untrustworthy. Ebony’s children succumb to irregular behaviors, which are surprisingly off-putting but also hard to rationalize as “outbursts” when the film tries to stir doubt in the authenticity of their possessions. Don’t forget the prototype introduction of a faith-based champion who performs whatever ritual will cleanse vessels of damnation, which Ebony oddly fights at first despite acknowledging something obscure happening to her family. Daniels focuses so intently on the bloodline drama between everyone under Ebony’s roof, that it’s easy to notice how the genre influences are straight out of the Exorcism Movie 101 playset.

There is, admittedly, a healthy dose of blasphemous symbolism that visually makes its impact. From levitations to stigmata, Ebony’s offspring are tormented by the malevolence holding their spirits captive. What’s less impressive are the digital augmentations to little Andre’s face that turn him demonic or the computer-generated effects that achieve wall-crawling unease. The Deliverance is a grab-bag of possession staples tossed into the air at once, and they all come crashing down in the conclusion. Ebony’s contortions stick their landing, along with other hellish glimpses, while other parts are more aesthetic than functional. It’s never an outright fumble of the finale’s payoffs, more a chaotic montage of rotten-toothed devils and bleeding wounds banged into place with a wooden cross.

Despite its tonal puzzle and everything-at-once climax, The Deliverance captivates as an American-bred slice of “Outsider” storytelling. For a while, you’ll question if Daniels’ brand of terror even requires an underworld misfit’s appearance. Ebony faces the same skepticism surrounding Ammons’ unbelievable accounts. Then Daniels punches horror elements into full gear, and while there’s a randomizer sense to everything, frights abound, and there’s a mercilessness that bites down hard. Execution may slip and slide, but Daniels doesn’t waste his first crack at the ghoulishness of this Earth or deep below.

REVIEW The Deliverance (2024) The Deliverance tries to rattle generic possession and exorcism storytelling, and while its cultural focus gives it that breath of fresh air, the film’s dramatic fixation sometimes detracts from its horror leanings.Release Date August 30, 2024 ProsThe film has a strong ensemble from young to old.Daniels doesn?t hold back come the end.It makes for an even-handed horror debut. ConsSometimes ?going for it? gets the better of ambition.The pacing is a little off, holding the ?showing? of supernatural horrors until the end.Can feel routine in its spooky architecture.

The Deliverance comes to theaters in the U.S. starting August 16 and is available to stream on Netflix starting August 30. Click below for showtimes near you.

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